Nancy Churchill

Nancy Churchill, 89, of Yorba Linda passed away on September 8, 2022. Nancy was born on September 22, 1932, during the Great Depression, to Foster and Pauline Wilhelmus. She was named “Miss Downey” at the age of 17, and was an avid dancer, enjoying both ballet and Spanish dancing. Nancy was driven, articulate, compassionate, funny, loyal and charming, right up to her final days. Her inquisitive mind led her to meet many interesting people throughout her life, which she enjoyed writing about in her later years. She was blessed with a large and loving family, including 5 daughters, 11 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren. Nancy was married at the age of 19 to her childhood sweetheart, Norman Sloan. During their marriage, four children were born: Patee, Susie, Cindie and Karen. After separating from Norman, Nancy worked at Autonetics, a division of North American (now part of Boeing) as an executive assistant. Nancy and Norman finalized their divorce in 1963.

Nancy met Neil Berck, and they married in 1964. In early 1965, they moved the family to Brea just before daughter Becquie was born. She taught ballet to the neighborhood children in her garage where Neil installed a ballet barre for that purpose. Although busy raising 5 daughters, Nancy attended school at Cal State Fullerton where she earned her Bachelor’s degree and teaching credential. She immediately began to teach at local high schools including El Dorado, Valencia, and Esperanza where she taught dance, gymnastics and English and was the Pep (cheer) coach. She was well-loved and respected by her students, many of whom she kept in contact with until her passing.Nancy’s love of education and her students was evident in that she wrote the Alma Mater for Esperanza High School in just a few minutes at the request of students who didn’t like the “official” version which was being presented to the student body the following day. The student body voted for the alma mater written by Nancy (and composed by students), an accomplishment in which she took great pride.

Nancy's summers away from teaching were spent with her family/friends waterskiing and camping on Lake Havasu and teaching gymnastics to the local children in the neighborhood on her front lawn in Brea. Nancy’s love for people and excitement helped shape her next career, which was real estate. She worked for Mulhearn, Katella, Red Carpet, Merrill Lynch, and Prudential Realties. It was through real estate that she met and married her true soul mate John Howard (Jack) Churchill. The two were married on Valentine’s Day, 1981.Nancy’s passion for real estate and her persistence in the field helped her to win Realtor of the year; she truly was the REO queen. She and Jack eventually started their own business, Churchill & Associates, and with their many friends they had many adventures. They were well known in the Real Estate community, and highly respected. In Nancy's later years she became a care giver for Jack, who ultimately succumbed to complications from Alzheimers in 2012. In order to cope with the duties of caregiving and Jack’s eventual demise, at the age of 80 Nancy wrote and self-published her first novel, "The 7th Victim”. She eventually published 4 novels and was editing the 5th novel in the series at the time of her death.

Nancy was also an accomplished quilter and made beautiful quilts in addition to creating themed quilts for her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She attended Friday morning quilting classes at the Yorba Linda Senior Center and was well-versed enough on the computer to continue attending the Friday classes through Zoom during the pandemic. She enjoyed a variety of other activities with the Yorba Linda Senior Center including day trips and a trip to Boston in 2017, and she enjoyed many trips with friends and family both overseas and in the Continental US.

Nancy is survived by her daughters Patee (David) McFarland, Susan Sloan, Cindie (Rocky) Bigner, Karen Amagrande, and Becquie Berck (Scott Simmerer); her grandchildren Aaron, Sonny, Michelle, Anne, Jenny, Rebecca, Jessie, Payden, Derek, Madison and Jacob; her great grand-children Randy, Wyatt, Emilee, Walker, Dominic, Zach, Abby, Sebastian, Oliver, and Charlotte; her sister Barbara Wilson, and is preceded in death by her soulmate Jack, and her two previous husbands Norman Sloan and Neil Berck.

Rest in peace, Nancy; may your memory forever be a blessing.